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Senator Moore reads to South County Pediatrics patients in Webster
September 20, 2007... Sen. Richard T. Moore (D-Uxbridge) recently visited the doctors and nurses of South County Pediatrics in Webster to show his support for Reach Out and Read (ROR), a literacy program that teaches parents about the importance of reading to children at an early age. During his visit, the senator read the book, “Little Teddy Left Behind” to their young patients. South County Pediatrics participates in Reach Out and Read, a national children’s literacy program that focuses on the children at greatest risk – children aged 6 months to 5 years living at or near poverty. Doctors participating in Reach Out and Read distribute carefully selected new, developmentally and culturally appropriate books including bilingual books available in 12 languages. Each child who participates in Reach Out and Read starts kindergarten with a home library of up to 10 books and a parent who has heard at every well-child visit about the importance of books and reading. South County Pediatrics is one of 5 sites in Sen. Moore’s district that participate in Reach Out and Read, together providing books to more than 2,200 children annually. Across the state, 191 Reach Out and Read sites serve over 156,000 low-income infants, toddlers and preschoolers annually. Nationally, thousands of doctors this year will give 4.6 million new books to 2.8 million low-income families at more than 3,300 health care sites nationwide. Reach Out and Read serves about 25 percent of America’s at-risk infants, toddlers and preschoolers. Endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, Reach Out and Read was the only American literacy program featured at the recent White House Conference on Global Literacy. Since it was founded in 1989, Reach Out and Read has trained more than 46,000 doctors and nurses who have given over 20 million books to children in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. International programs modeled on Reach Out and Read have been started in Bangladesh, Italy, Israel, the Philippines, England, and Canada. For more information, please visit www.reachoutandread.org. |
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